Flavor is perhaps the most commonly known or familiar aspect of beer. When you ask someone why they either like or don’t like beer, many will say the flavor/s. It’s one of the most obvious sensory parts in the beer experience.

Flavor is a wonderful part of beer

And there’s a few good reasons why. Whether you like the flavors of the beer or not, you notice them right away. Many people still don’t pay much attention to the beauty in the color of beer, or the smelling of their beer or even the texture of their beer. Flavor is a common denominator.

What do you taste?

What kinds of flavors are you identifying?

Being able to label the flavors you taste, like identifying smells, is a powerful tool to building your beer knowledge. Flavors of beer are as diverse and limitless as any beverage can be.

Part of that is due to the fact that with at least 4 basic ingredients and potentially scads more, there are infinite flavor combinations that can occur. Add to that: Beer is a living organism (most beer is not pasteurized). Hence it’ll stay alive and the flavors can change subtly or remarkably depending on a few factors.

You want the beer to stay alive, to not have the yeast die or get killed off, to really enjoy the beer as the brewer meant it to be. Fresh, full of flavors and aromas for you to relish.

Flavor is the (so far) result of the color, aroma, and mouthfeel of your beer. The flavors are a kind of metaphorical tie that brings them together in your mouth. And such wonderful ties they are!